Have you looked at our exchange rate lately?

$1 USD = $1.12 CAD

If you are Canadian, check out that rate! Then add that to the special that Disney still has going - see earlier post - this could be a really good time to consider a Disney Vacation!

Little One Travel Time - perfect for the under-7's in your family

"Little Ones Travel Time" is back for 2007! Last year for a limited set of dates in the late summer, Disney put on some special shows aimed at the very youngest kiddies in the family - those 6 and under - who are arguably the only children that don't get the full Disney World experience, being too young or small for some of the rides and experiences.

This was something unique - and just for them.

Well, it's back again, and this year the "season" is much longer.

"From August 26 through October 28, Walt Disney World® Resort will host Little Ones Travel Time. During this special travel time, youngsters can dance and sing along with Playhouse Disney in Concert featuring their Disney Channel favorites including: The Doodlebops, Johnny & the Sprites, Dan Zanes and more, all scheduled to perform on select days. This line-up is sure to surprise and delight the little ones!"

2007 ENTERTAINMENT:
Admission is included with valid Theme Park ticket.

Note: Performers have not yet been confirmed for the following dates: September 20 – 23; September 27 – 30 and October 4 – 7. All Playhouse Disney in Concert performers, dates, and times are subject to change without notice.

Imagination Movers
August 30 – September 2, 2007
This New Orleans-based music group is a rising star in the kid’s music category with their high-energy, interactive rock/hip-hop concerts. Their funky, catchy songs have produced new Imagination Movers fans across the country, affectionately known as "Gearheads."
Times: TBD
Venue: TBD

The Doodlebops
September 6 – 9, 2007
Come center stage with Deedee, Rooney, and Moe Doodle and rock-along with the Doodlebops. This candy-colored trio will get kids out of their seats and off their feet as they rock and bop to their favorite songs from this hit rockin’ band.
Times: TBD
Venue: TBD

“Playhouse Disney Live On Tour”
September 13 – 16, 2007
Disney Family Live Entertainment presents “Playhouse Disney Live On Tour” featuring Little Einsteins, Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and more. It’s a whole new way to experience Disney Magic with the entire family!
Times: TBD
Venue: TBD

Imagination Movers
October 11 – 14, 2007
This New Orleans-based music group is a rising star in the kid’s music category with their high-energy, interactive rock/hip-hop concerts. Their funky, catchy songs have produced new Imagination Movers fans across the country, affectionately known as "Gearheads."
Times: TBD
Venue: TBD

Johnny & the Sprites
October 18 – 21, 2007
Little Ones will delight in learning about music, making friends, and finding the magic within themselves.
Times: TBD
Venue: TBD

Dan Zanes and Friends
October 25 – 28, 2007
Dan Zanes’ folksy rock songs are sure to get the little ones singing and dancing, and the grownups will have just as much fun as their toddlers!
Times: TBD
Venue: TBD

Disney's Pirate and Princess Party Returns

Beginning this summer, Disney's Pirate and Princess Party will return to the Magic Kingdom® Park on select nights in August and September. You will be sure to "treasure" this special event forever!

Become a pirate or a princess in a place where Dreams come true! Grab your adventure map and treasure pouch as you embark on a quest through Magic Kingdom® Park for chocolate doubloons and royal beads. Immerse yourself in Pirate Coves and Princess Courts. Be dazzled by the new Disney's Enchanted Adventures Parade. Experience the Magic, Music and Mayhem fireworks spectacular. If you wish, you can even come to the party dressed in your favorite pirate or princess costume*!

All of this, plus use of some of the most popular Magic Kingdom® attractions, will provide you with a night of adventure to remember and "treasure" forever.

SUMMER 2007 DATES & TIMES:
August 11, 15, 18, 21, 24, 28, 31 and September 3, 2007
7:00 pm – 12:00 am

SUMMER 2007 TICKETS:
Event participation is not included with regular Theme Park admission. A separate ticket is required. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale by June 1, 2007.

ENTERTAINMENT: (subject to change)
Pirate Coves and Princess Courts
Beads and chocolate treasure giveaways
Immersive activities including pirate lessons and themed dance party
Character meet and greets
Disney's Enchanted Adventures Parade
Magic, Music and Mayhem fireworks spectacular
Dream Along With Mickey castle stage show
Some of the most popular Magic Kingdom® attractions
*Please choose costumes that are not obstructive or offensive.
Tickets are valid only during specific dates and hours.
Entertainment is subject to change without notice.

Winter 2008 Dates and Event details TO BE DETERMINED

(Source - disneytravelagents.ca)

WestJet VERY special Orlando fares from Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto

Yes!
Another short, sweet Florida seat sale from WestJet!

Check out these deals on non-stop flights to Florida.

Ottawa to Orlando and Tampa.

Montreal to Orlando and Tampa.

Toronto to West Palm Beach.

Book by April 24, 2007 for travel until May 13, 2007.

Brand New Special for Disney World - FREE DINING!

Announced 12th April...

Occasionally Disney announce a special which is a little bit better than average. Today is one of those days!

For check-ins most nights from the 26th August through 22nd September, buy a package (of at least 3 consecutive nights, at one of the Walt Disney World resorts, plus tickets, and get Disney's dining package FREE! For a family of 2 adults and 2 kids (under 10) this package saves $100 US per day. For families with older children, the savings are even better - up to $160 US per day.

The booking deadline for this offer is the 24th of June, but you should consider booking early, as - like all Disney specials - availability is limited.

I will be checking all my existing client files today to see who may be eligible for this offer, and will swap over as many of you as possible...

Adventures by Disney - kids adventure for FREE offer

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Disney vacations new "Adventures by Disney" product as it seems to have received very little publicity in Canada.

I got to see a sneak preview when cruising on the Disney Wonder last September, and have wanted to plug these vacations ever since. I really like what I've seen and read so far.

Now there is an even better reason to spread the news, as Kids can now "adventure" for free!
View Kids Special Offer Flyer (Adobe PDF)

"Kids Special Offer

For a limited time, receive an Adventures by Disney kids package for free* on select Fiesta Espana, Path to Pura Vida and Imperial Cities departures! Bring the whole family together and share extraordinary experiences. Learn historic legends, marvel at miraculous sights and turn once-in-a-lifetime moments into memories to cherish forever. Just purchase an Adventures by Disney adult package at the regular rate between March 19 and June 30, 2007 on qualifying departures, June through September, to receive a kids package for free!*

*For every adult (age 15 and over) booked at the non-discounted Regular or Value season rate (single supplement may apply) on qualifying departures, one child (age 14 and under) staying in the same room as the qualifying adult may participate for free. Per-room occupancy is limited to four persons, so up to two children may participate for free. Children participating for free will enjoy all of the features included in a standard child’s travel package. Offer applies to land packages only. Subject to availability. The number of land packages available for this offer is limited. Cannot be combined with any other offer or sold or transferred for commercial use. Valid for bookings made March 19 through June 30, 2007. Offer valid on most departures, June through September, on Fiesta Espana, Path to Pura Vida and Imperial Cities adventures only. Subject to conditions, restrictions and change without notice."

(Source - disneytravelagents.com)

The New Disney World room special for May...

This latest special gives approx 15% off the room-only rates for value and moderate resorts, and as much as 25% off deluxe resorts (separately or as part of a package). That is a worthwhile saving if you can get it.

This special is for travel dates: 4/15/07-5/23/07, and you must book by 4/14/07.

As with all of these specials, availability is limited.

I have already checked all of my own clients whose dates would fit this special, and have swapped over those that would benefit - which was not everyone, as Disney had already offered a better special for many of the same dates, earlier this year...

If you are still in the market, contact me (either today, or by Tuesday next week) and we'll see whether we can still find you some space - maybe on that Westjet seat sale too...

Westjet Florida seat sale extended...

Now you can book through April 11th and (subject to availability, of course) get Westjet flights to Florida at 50-70% off the before-tax price. Orlando FROM $99 each way, plus the taxes... Travel until May 13, 2007, or until seasonal service ends...

WestJet seat sale to Florida ends today!

Talk about short and sweet!

If you read this before the end of the day today (29th March) you still may be able take advantage of WestJet's seat sale to Florida for travel between April 16 and May 13, 2007.

Prices are pretty good from Canadian cities to Orlando - from around $100 CAD each way plus all the crazy taxes...

No I'm not dead...

I know that my posts have not been forthcoming these last few days. I've just been very busy here in the office.

I am going to try to catch up shortly as I have quite a few good things to mention right now...

Watch out for the following:

A new special at Disney World for travel in May.

A Westjet Florida seat sale for travel in April and May.

Kids free on select "Adventures by Disney" vacations

Some special Spring sailing rates on Disney Cruise lines.

Disney Cruise Line announces TWO NEW SHIPS!

Disney Cruise Line is set to double the size of its fleet and offer more than twice as much fun on the high seas.

They have ordered two new ships, each two decks larger than their existing ships.

"Scheduled to launch in 2011 and 2012, the ships will more than double the passenger capacity for Disney Cruise Line® to meet the sustained demand for Disney's family cruise vacations."

The full press release can be read here.

Sorry - no posts for a while

I know it's been a while since my last post. It's been a busy couple of weeks with the agency a bit short-staffed as my wife and kids along with my mother-in-law (who is also my boss) being away in Jamaica.

They were working (kind of!) investigating and enjoying a couple of the finest family-friendly resorts to be found anywhere.

I know it's not really Disney, but it you are interested you can read about their adventures at their blog.

New Disney World package special

Disney just announced a new special vacation package giving a FREE UPGRADE from Magic Your Way "base" tickets, to include the "Park Hopping" option and the "Water Park Fun and more option". This can save a family of 4 more than $360 US.

This package is available for on-site stays, for most nights between April 15th 2007 and June 2nd 2007. This package is also available with Disney's Dining Plan if you wish. There is a 3 night minimum-stay.

As with most of Disney's package specials the number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited, and not all resorts may have availability.

You must book by 18th Feb 2007.

If you are already booked with me, traveling in those date ranges, and I have not yet contacted you back to see if I can upgrade you, please do not hesitate to email me.

To book this new "Spring Discount Package", contact a Disney Specialist travel agent (like me) and mention code ZEY for the Magic Your Way package or ZFC for the Magic Your Way Plus Dining package.

Disney Cruises heading back to California in 2008

Just announced!

Following the success of Disney's Cruises last sortie to the West coast of the USA (and the Baja peninsula in Mexico) a couple of years back, they are doing it again in 2008.

They will also be offering the 15 day repositioning cruise both ends of the season, via the Panama canal, on May 10th and August 17th respectively.

Last time, these cruises sold out within a few weeks, and the Panama canal cruises within days. SO YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BOOKING REALLY EARLY!

Booking starts 31st January - yes, tomorrow - so if you are interested please contact me ASAP.

More details can be found on the Disney Cruise Line website...

New Passport Requirements in place TODAY

As of today, 23rd Jan 2007, Canadians flying to the USA must have a valid passport. Documentation requirements for cross-border travel by land or sea, are unchanged (proof of citizenship and govt. issued photo-ID) but if you are trying to fly, you are not going to get in without a passport.

For more info check this link

In extreme circumstances (sudden family emergencies etc) you may be able to persuade the customs agent to let you travel without the passport (apparently...) but you cannot count on this.

Line-ups for passports are very long, and you can no longer rely on the standard 10-day turn-around time. So many people left getting their passport to the last minute, that now 30-days is a more usual time to get receive your passport - IF you fill in all the required information correctly. Expedited passports can still be purchased, with the additional charge.

So if you are planning to fly to Florida, make sure that you build in enough time to get a passport if you don't have one yet.

Hint: Ottawa clients, consider flying from Syracuse, then you only have to drive across the border... no passport needed... yet...

Disney Document Update

In November I reported on the fact that a lot of our Disney documents were getting "stuck" at the border and were arriving late (though not TOO late)...

Well, things don't seem much better so far in 2007.

So, don't be concerned or dismayed if your documents have not arrived three weeks prior to travel. Most are arriving between 10 and 14 days in advance.

Still no idea what the "problem" is...........

Happy New Year!

No news just yet for the New Year.

Just best wishes from me to you....

Maybe it's not too late to get the call from Mickey...

Just out of curiosity I checked back with the Mickey Mouse Christmas phone call web-link.

It would appear that if you did not get the Christmas call from Mickey, (see earlier post) then you can CALL HIM! and he will break the news of your up-coming Disney vacation to your kids.

To get the special phone number to call, you need to go to the website and put in your Disney reservation number.

Disney Itinerary Planning Tips

As a "Disney Insider" I get sent various emails periodically from Disney. Today I got a link to some articles on Disney Travel planning. Many of these are good, particularly those helping you come up with suggested itineraries to get the most out of short trips to Disney World, but curiously a number of them were written (or last updated) in June 2005, so are somewhat out-of-date. For example, some of them refer to the Park-Hopper tickets which have been extinct since January of 2005... and most have no mention of the dining plan...

However, I include the link here anyway, as the nitty-gritty of "where should I go first, and what should I aim to see" is something that I am regularly asked. And there are good family-tested suggestions here.

Here's the link...

Did Mickey call your kids?

I have heard from two of my clients so far - so I know that Mickey did call some of you on Christmas day.

I'm intrigued...

Did you sign up?

Did Mickey call?

What did he say?

Please comment below!!

Disney World to get healthier food!

For all those of you that have experienced the dearth of healthy food options (particularly in the fast-food restaurants, rather than the sit-down restaurants) at Disney theme parks, (heartburn) relief is coming!

Disney announced recently that they are re-thinking their menus and will be phasing in more healthy options at the parks starting next year. As I understand it, as franchises are coming up for renewal, the less healthy ones are not being renewed and are being replaced with more healthful choices.

Personally I think this is a good move, as you are a captive audience to a large extent. As Canadians typically stay for close to a week at Disney World, by the end of that week it sometimes feels like you've been eating junk food for as long as you can remember - at least if you normally eat vegetables at home...

While some people will miss all that comfort food, I'm also pretty sure there'll still be at least some options for heavily-processed, refined-sugar-enriched, saturated-fat-heavy, sodium-enhanced food for the masses! It's just economics... see how successful Las Vegas was at re-branding itself as a "family" destination?!! Exactly...

Get Mickey to call your kids on Christmas Day...

Walt Disney World announced a really nice travel-related feature a couple of weeks ago. I could have posted it immediately, but I wanted to check into a bit, just in case it was too good to be true. (No, it's not a new special rate or anything, but it's pretty cute.)

If you have Disney vacation coming up in the New Year, why not have Mickey Mouse himself break the news to your kids?

If you have a Disney World booking, you can go to a special website, enter your booking number and a few other details, and Mickey will call your house some time on Christmas Day to let your family know that a visit to Disney is on the cards in the new year.

There are a couple of potential problems with this service, but as far as I can tell, they are not stopping people from at least signing up for the service - (whether Mickey calls or not, is another matter, but kids can't be disappointed by not getting what they didn't know they would be getting, right?...)

The first is that it is supposedly for NEW bookings only (after the announce date of 28th November). I have been completely unable to get a definitive answer if that is correct or not, or whether if you add an existing booking number you can arrange for the phone call, but at least one client has been able to sign up with a booking made before November 28th...

The second problem is that the service is supposedly not offered in Quebec. (This must be to do with Mickey not being able to speak French!). However, again at least one of my clients (a resident of Quebec) was able to sign up, so you should give it a go anyway.

My goal is to email each of my clients with holidays booked for January through March, about this service, hoping not to cause too much disappointment if it doesn't work. However, if you happen to be reading this blog before you get your email from me - why not try to sign up!

The weblink is here...

You will need your Disney booking number also...

Hope it works for you all!!

Disney Tests a "Future Stay" Program at Walt DIsney World

It's a move that travel agents (especially Disney Specialists* like me) will be watching with interest...

Clients staying at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort Hotel in December this year, who book their next vacation before they check-out - can request that their travel agent (hopefully me, right!) receive credit (i.e. get paid commission) for that sale. Disney, while doing all they can to poach our clients with their overwhelming market reach, razzle-dazzle, liberal coatings of fresh pixie-dust etc. etc. are at least giving us the chance to make a final few dollars before we lose our clients for ever!!

No, seriously...
Disney have always been extremely good at direct marketing. They have also always supported travel agents. I suppose this new program does a bit of both - enabling our clients to take advantage of special prices (only offered at the time) but still have us work with them on their file.

This is a pilot project (at present) but if it is successful in generating lots of new bookings for Disney will likely go the way of the Disney Cruise Line, whereby you can get some significant savings by booking your next trip before you even get off the ship. While I have no problem with saving my clients money (I do that wherever I can) - I don't want to be cut out completely and not even be able to offer anything!

So - what do you need to know about this pilot program before you go...

You will be able to learn about the program through various materials - in-room marketing, signage and merchandising receipts - once you are in resort. The offer will be some kind of a reduction on your next trip, if booked there-and-then, some time before checkout.

The value will be real. There will be an advantage to booking before you leave. It may not be a giant benefit, however! And, know that the booking that you make while at the resort is restricted - i.e. you will not be able to make changes to date, resort, package etc after the fact. So be careful!

You are supposed to be asked whether you have a travel agent. If not, please leave me a comment here and I'll have words with Mickey...

Please remember your travel agent - if you got good service, useful advice, all-round value, help with airfare etc etc - and ask to have them credited. If you want them to be involved with the next trip you will need to contact them to let them know about the booking, as Disney will NOT contact them...

Know that if a better special comes along (which regular readers of this blog will know is very possible at certain times of the year) then you may have to cancel your original booking and re-book. This is something that we do on a regular basis, and we are very able to work out which package is better value for you, if you feel stuck or confused. Usually there are no change penalties, so do not assume that you will lose money.

Finally, if you FORGET to credit me (or another travel agent) all may not be lost. If, as mentioned above a better special comes along, then we can get back involved at that point.

Special offer over...

No more free pass upgrades...

As far as I can tell there are no "specials" going on for Disney packages these days - but continue to watch this space. As soon as I hear of anything - I'll post it!

Last Couple of Days for Spring Upgrade Special

Hi again! Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Just been too busy finishing up a lot of Disney bookings for the first few weeks of the new year. Amazingly, on selected dates, there is still availability on the Canadian upgrade special for travel Jan 1st through Mar 7th.

Last day to book (OR CHANGE) bookings is this Friday 15th Dec. So don't hang about.

Full details of the upgrade are described here.